I think the thing people have a hard time understanding is that Chávez opposed illegal migrant workers, not because he thought they didn't deserve a better life, but because their presence undermined the bargaining power of the ufw. What farm owner was going to sign a contract to end the grape strike if there was a flood of replacement workers available, whose status in the country was precarious enough to keep them quiet about poor working conditions and abuses? Nadie.

But that was then and this is now. Chávez was a labour activist leading a job action to create better working conditions, and los ilegales were "scabs" (a term for replacement workers) that were undermining this very long and arduous strike.